Hawaii Day #2 & #3

Hawaii Day #2 – Sunday

Time zones are funny.  We were in bed on Saturday by 8:00pm, and were wide awake by 4:30am!  If only we could carry on the habit when we went back to Utah.  Each morning we opened the blinds and watched the sunrise, and were shocked when the temperature was already 75-80 degrees by early morning.  We made some kind of easy breakfast, poured ourselves a glass of POG juice and sipped it from wineglasses – all on our porch with the cool morning breeze and sound of the ocean.  HEAVEN.

Sunday was a relaxing day.  We were able to find a local ward and enjoyed listening to their talks and testimonies.  We saw a couple next to us with extremely shiny rings, and asked, “are you on your honeymoon?”  Very shyly they nodded back and continued to hold on to each other very tightly.  It was adorable.  The Kona temple is right outside their church building, and it is gorgeous!  Very tiny, but still beautiful.  We spent most of the rest of the day in a car, driving to the northern tip of the island.  The scenery was beautiful and we loved all of those Hawaiian tunes that we still find ourselves humming (“I wanna go back to my honey…”).  But towards the end of the day is probably the funniest part of the week:

We fixed ourselves breakfast and packed lunches every day, but saved eating out for dinner time.  We were starving, of course, and found ourselves walking up and down the main drag in Kona, indecisive as usual and growing hungrier and grouchier by the second.  We finally chose a nice little restaurant right on the beach, and opened the menu…to find there were no prices listed.  That is never good.  I ordered something that sounded cheap (turned out to be $18), and Ryan ordered a seafood platter (which turned out to be $40…gulp…)!!  To make matters worse…the food wasn’t even that great.  What a bummer!!!!!  We didn’t make that mistake again, so we look back and laugh…and cringe.

Hawaii Day #3 – Monday

We woke up at our usual, too early time, and went for a little jog along the coast.  We found a little hub where some locals were paddle boarding/surfing and watched them for a few minutes, itching to join them soon!  We signed up for a kayaking adventure that morning at 9:00, and it lived up to the name!  There were only four kayaks in our group, so our guide took us to several more lava tubes than usual.  We were able to cautiously and carefully maneuver our little kayaks in and out of lava tubes and caves along the rocky coast of southern Kona.  We kayaked for about four miles total, but were able to cliff jump, snorkel, and explore. 

- Interesting fact: Our guide showed us three homes that were entirely “off the grid.”  They were above a large lava tube, and were able to cool down their homes by channeling some of the tubes to their homes.  They collected rain water and used solar panels, and they were beautiful! 

We had gotten to know the tour guide towards the end of the adventure, and he offered to let us use some paddle boards for free!  We jumped at the chance, and soon found that it is most definitely not as easy as it looks.  I was able to go a bit faster than Ryan, and whenever he asked me to slow down and wait, I would start to wobble…then I would start to really wobble…then at last I would face plant first on the board, and then roll into the water.  This happened probably four times, and I only wish I could have seen it from Ryan’s perspective!

We next went to a recommended beach next to the Marina – and soon found that the treck there was not quite worth it.  The sand was breathtakingly white, but the water was very murky.  We did luck out by seeing nearly 10 turtles, but decided to pick up our snorkel gear and chairs and head to a better beach.

And we found one.

Kua Bay is the hidden gem of the big island.  It is hard to find since it is not marked, but we were able to score some good directions.  There was only one problem with this Bay, and that was NO SHADE.  We were getting a little roasted by this point in the day, and were able to find a lone tree on the north side of the beach.  Thank goodness!!  We snorkeled, body surfed, boogie boarded, and soaked up some sun :) Afterward, we went to a delicious Japanese restaurant, and fell quickly asleep for the third night in a row.  

 Ps. The last few are pictures of pictures...from our water camera.  Not the best quality.